UPDATED: State GOP says late Steyer donations to his own PAC illegal

The state Republican Party is asking the Public Disclosure
Commission to file an injunction against the NextGen Climate Action
Committee sponsored by Thomas Steyer to prevent the committee from
spending $3 million Steyer donated on Friday.

Lori Anderson, PDC spokeswoman, said within the final three
weeks of an election the most a political committee can receive
from a single source is $5,000, unless the committee is addressing
a ballot initiative.

The committee will have the opportunity to address the
complaint. “We will send the complaint to the committee that’s
alleged to have received the contribution and they have to defend
what they’ve done,” Anderson said.

State GOP Party Chairwoman Susan Hutchison said in a statement,
“Senator Nathan Schlicher needs to answer this question: will you
repudiate this illegal spending by an outside donor or do you want
the people of Pierce and Kitsap County to be represented by someone
bought and paid for with illegal out of state money?”

“I would hope that everyone follows the PDC’s rules and that
they don’t spend money on our campaign or any campaign in the
state. I agree that everyone should follow PDC laws.” Schlicher
said. “No one should participate in illegal spending.”

Schlicher said the WSRP’s release trying to link him to the
donation is in line with other attacks, such as a mailer that went
out suggesting that Schlicher is no longer a doctor and was
practicing law again. “This is just another unfortunate attempt to
exaggerate and mislead the public and I hope people see through
this,” he said.

NextGen now reports $9.3 million in donations. The GOP is
probably correct that $455,000 of it has gone to the
Schlicher-Angel contest, (I found $400,000 and the party connected
other dots and was probably correct.) far more NextGen money has
gone to campaigns in other states. I don’t know that this is
unprecedented, but it’s not something I’ve seen a lot, if at all.
I’ve contacted NextGen’s rep in Sacramento for a response to the
complaint and an explanation of the committee’s reported spending
elsewhere. If I receive a return call I’ll report it here.

UPDATE: Angel just announced she’s having a press conference
Thursday morning on this subject.

UPDATE II: NextGen responded:

NextGen Climate Action released the following statement
today:

“Jan Angel is trying to distract from her positions that are
harmful to the health of kids and families in Washington. Our
lawyers spoke with the Public Disclosure Commission prior to making
the contribution and they agreed that the 21 day rule does not
apply to FEC registered committees. We are in full compliance with
all Washington election laws.”

Matthew Lewis
spokesman

Lewis also confirmed that none of the money donated on the 18th
will be spent in Washington. “We’re not concerned about the legal
issues at all,” he said.

More as it develops.

Here is the WSRP press release:

BELLEVUE, WA – Today, the Washington State Republican Party
(WSRP) filed a complaint with the Public Disclosure Committee
(attached to this release) for illegal contributions and urged that
they file an immediate injunction to prevent Thomas Steyer’s
committee from spending that money in Washington State. San
Francisco Billionaire Tom Steyer dumped $3 million into the
“NextGen Climate Action Committee” last Friday, October 18, 2013
blatantly and purposefully thwarting the state’s 21-day prohibition
of contributions above $5,000.

WSRP Chair Susan Hutchison released the following statement:

“Senator Nathan Schlicher needs to answer this question: will
you repudiate this illegal spending by an outside donor or do you
want the people of Pierce and Kitsap County to be represented by
someone bought and paid for with illegal out of state money? Which
is it? Today I call upon the PDC to do their job and protect the
integrity of our election process by filing an injunction to stop
Tom Steyer from using his illegally contributed money to attempt to
buy the election for Senator Schlicher.”

The WSRP calls on Nathan Schlicher to repudiate this illegal
$3,000,000 contribution made by his largest financial supporter.
Does Nathan Schlicher want a citizen of San Francisco to choose the
next senator from the 26th district using illegal campaign
funds?

Steyer’s committee has poured $250,000 into the She’s Changed
PAC, which is spending more than $1 million against Jan Angel in
the LD 26 special election in Port Orachard and Gig Harbor. In
addition, Steyer’s committee has dropped $275,000 into the
Washington Conservation Voters, which in turn has contributed
$150,000 to She’s Changed PAC and $55,000 to the Kennedy Fund – the
soft-dollar committee of the Senate Democrats which has dropped
another $217,000 into She’s Changed PAC. All told, Steyer’s
committee has funneled $455,000 into She’s Changed PAC and into
attempting to buy this election for Senator Schlicher. Mr. Steyer
is already the single biggest contributor to a legislative campaign
in our state’s history, and it’s clear that he’s not through
spending his Wall Street money on this race.